Work work work… and relax

First and foremost, I’ve gotten this far without really expressing how much I hate my job. But I think it deserves a little blurb. I hate my job. I didn’t mind paralegaling at the law firm, late hours and a low salary, but this one (legal department at a massive mutual fund/asset management firm), with shorter hours (especially when I go to school) and twice the pay, sucks lamb tongue. It’s just a couple of the people, but that’s enough to do it. You may have gathered that I am a reasonably bright young adult, graduated from a reputable college, with a lot of ambition to succeed and do my best (particularly in the kitchen). But this job… Let’s just say, I can’t wait to be in a real kitchen.

So I am still doing the garde manger/saucier role. I was supposed to work by myself, but it seems like another member of our class dropped out!? That’s currently unofficial, but missing the first two classes of a new level seems a little suspect. (By the way, we ran into the guy who got "left back." He's in a class with his buddies so I think he's happier there.) So I didn’t work by myself, but instead this one guy in Level 4 who was doing a make-up class, ended up working by himself. He should have already done the class recipes multiple times, mostly by himself, and be good at it. He was pretty late on the dishes, particularly the main dish, and the quality was sub par at best.

I was working with my new partner, who mentioned that she took not one, but TWO leaves of absence, and currently works in an Italian restaurant. She showed up for our level 2 final, and according to everyone, she was hot shit. But you know what. I think she’s just tepid shit. I’m not being mean, she’s pretty good (and perhaps better than me), and fairly quick, but she’s not the scalding hot, fresh steaming shit on the sidewalk on a cold winter day.

Anyhow, we had to make 2 dishes. The first was pretty amazing (they both were, but a sauce hollandaise is a pretty special sauce). It was a poached egg on a bed of macedoined vegetables, topped with hollandaise. The hollandaise isn’t really difficult, but it is technical. I’ll give a brief review that I think you could replicate without seeing it.

2 egg yolks
Tablespoon of warm water (and some more on the side)
200 mL clarified butter
Lemon juice
Small pinch of Cayenne Pepper
Salt

1) Bring about an inch of water to boil in a russe (saucepan, anything you can place a metal bowl over without the bottom touching the water, or the bowl falling into it).
2) In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, tablespoon of water, and a few drops of lemon juice (can add the lemon at the end, and probably will have to adjust the acidity with the lemon). Whisk it a bit. Then turn the boiling water down so that it’s still steaming, but not boiling. Place the bowl over the pot and whisk away. If it gets too hot, and it will, remove it from the pot. You’re not trying to aerate it so much, but you’re cooking the egg without scrambling it.
3) You’re ready for the butter when a whisk leaves a visible streak of bowl underneath and closes in on itself.
4) If you can get some help, the butter step would be a lot easier, but if not, take the pan off the stove top. Place a damp (wet, but not sopping) towel over the top and cradle the bowl in it. You can add more water to make it a sturdier set up. Take a ladle or so of the butter and hold it over the bowl (DO NOT DUMP IT IN). start whisking, and odds are drops of butter will fall into the bowl. That’s the speed and amount you want to add the butter in, especially at first. Keep whisking. Keep ladling.
5) When you start to see a glisten on the hollandaise, a nice sheen come over it, its time to stop. You may need to add more water before you get her so it’s not as thick as a mayonnaise.
6) Add salt, acid (lemon juice) to taste, and a pinch of cayenne. That’s it. Use immediately, or hold in a warm place. Too cool and the butter will solidify and fall out of emulsification. Too hot and the eggs will curdle. It’s a fragile sauce. Best when used immediately.

That’s a long in depth description, but you should be able to make a hollandaise with it.

The vegetables (carrots, turnips, peas, green beans) were cut down to macedoine, about the size of the peas, boiled a l’anglaise, individually, combined, then molded into a ring in the center of the plate. The eggs were poached (water with a little vinegar, or else you’ll have egg water) cleaned up and rinsed in a warm salty water bath. We placed it over the veggies, some hollandaise, and an “X” of two julienned tomato slivers on top.

It was beautiful, and tasty. Really delicious actually.

The next was a roasted chicken. One we made before, but this one was really good. We trussed it nice and tight.

Here’s an aside, when we’re told to get the temperature of the chicken by sticking the thermometer in between the thigh and the body, you would think it’s too thin to get an accurate reading. But when you truss it properly, it’s so compact that it is actually the best place to get the temp since it takes the longest to cook, and it’s actually pretty dense. We’re talking getting a good truss.

What was pretty difficult for me, and I took my time doing it in an effort to comprehend what I was doing, was butchering the already cooked chicken. I am super confident in hacking away at a raw carcass, but a cooked chicken is more delicate and you can ruin a beautifully cooked chicken if you do this incorrectly.

Anyways, class went well, and we had some time at the end. Chef Rob says, “Who feels good about butchering a chicken?” And the words, “I DO!!” popped out of my mouth and my hand went straight up.

He said, ok… everyone, come here, Edwin’s gonna butcher the chicken and explain what he’s doing. What’d I just get myself into? I was a little nervous, but I knew what I was doing. Everyone huddled around and so I went… “First, you remove the wishbone…”

By the way, the title of this post reflects the fact that we bust our asses to get our meals done within the schedule he sets forth, but when we’re done with our 2 dishes (which get present first and third, we have about an hour to relax, clean up, watch other people… etc. Also, I have a feeling this level is gonna breeze by. Hopefully we all do well, but it’s so intense and quick, you don’t have time to look back.